


Nerdy Facts + Disaster Missions

by Nativestar



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:21:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23620747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nativestar/pseuds/Nativestar
Summary: The simple reconnaissance mission had gone badly wrong at record speeds.  Written for the prompts Bread, Pencil and Headphones from Starrylizard on Tumblr.  Set sometime late season one.
Comments: 19
Kudos: 28





	Nerdy Facts + Disaster Missions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [starrylizard](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrylizard/gifts).



“Jack! Jack! Answer me!” Mac’s voice was desperate. “Jack!”

The simple reconnaissance mission had gone badly wrong at record speeds. Mac couldn’t remember how long their ex-fil rescue had said they were going to be, it seemed like he’d called it in days ago and his comm was only receiving not transmitting. All Mac knew was Jack wasn’t answering him and his shaking hands were coated in blood.

“I’m here, I’m here.” Jack finally answered, with a moan.

“Jack.” Mac said on a sigh, relieved. “Glad you decided to join me.”

“Where else would I be?” Jack asked as he shifted to try and see the damage. “Aww, kid, this ain’t good.”

“I know.” Mac answered quietly. He was worried the knife might have nicked the femoral artery but he wasn’t going to tell Jack that. “I need your help. Can you put pressure on this for me, I need to--” Mac gestured to some fabric sacks that had been abandoned in the otherwise empty room.

“Yeah, I got it.”

As their hands traded places a cut-off cry broke the silence.

“Sorry, I’m sorry. We gotta stop this bleeding.”

Mac grabbed a sack and started to cut it up with his knife, turning it into a makeshift pressure bandage. His hands wouldn’t stop shaking and he was surprised he didn’t cut himself in the process.

“Here,” Mac nudged Jack’s hands and together they carefully and painfully dressed the wound. It took longer than Mac liked and he wasn’t sure but he thought there were tears in Jack’s eyes when they were done.

“How long until exfil is here?” Jack asked.

“I’m not sure. I can’t remember and my comm is only receiving.”

“Doing better than me, I lost mine.”

Mac noticed that Jack was still breathing shallow and fast. It was worrying but there wasn’t much he could do about it now. His own adrenaline spike was fading fast and he was struggling to fight the exhaustion that was following. He pushed down the thought that maybe he’d gotten more injured in the fight than he thought.

“Hey, Mac. Talk to me, buddy. Tell me some nerdy fact or something.” Jack patted his leg with his hand. “C’mon, you’ve got a captive audience.”

And they could both use the distraction. One from the pain, the other from worrying. But Mac was struggling, his thoughts skittering through his mind before he could focus on them. He looked down at the improvised bandage, already there was red spotting through. _Shit._

“Uh, okay, those sacks I cut up, probably were left over from when this was a bread factory. Did you know flour is highly flammable if its in high enough concentration in the air? Flour dust is more explosive than coal dust.”

The distraction worked. Jack met his eyes and even smiled faintly.

“Yeah, I know that one, hoss. Didn’t you use flour when we were trying to escape from Russia that one time?”

“Yeah, we did. I wasn’t sure you were listening to my explanation though.”

“I was kinda trying to make sure we all got out of there alive, but yeah, I always listen to you, Mac.”

Mac raised his eyebrows.

“Most of the time. Like 90% of the time. I mean sometimes you get really--” Jack stopped, aware he was digging himself a hole.

The pause in conversation drew their attention back to their current problem.

“Jack, its still bleeding.” Mac said apologetically.

“Yeah, I noticed.”

Mac looked around, neither of them were wearing their own clothes for the op and neither of them had belts. It was improvise time again. There had to be something he could use to stop the bleeding. Wait—what was that on the windowsill?

“Jack, I can use the cord from the sack openings as a tourniquet and there’s a pencil on the windowsill we can use to apply pressure.” Mac explained as he grabbed the cord, and knotted it. A larger surface area would have been better but it would still work. As the pencil turned, Jack squeezed his eyes shut and winced. Mac looked away, biting his lip.

“You know a pencil can write a line 35 miles long, a pen only does 1.2 miles.” Mac said trying to distract Jack again.

“Really? Guess its a good job my old teacher made me write lines in pen not pencil then.”

“Did you have to write lines until the pen ran out?” Mac asked, frowning.

“No. That’s a good point. Guess it wouldn’t have made a difference. It would have been a good excuse though.” Jack shrugged.

“Did you know breadcrumbs were used as an eraser before they invented ones made from rubber?”

“Now you’re making that one up.”

“No, they really did.” Mac insisted, as he heard a crackle in his ear and faint voice inform him that exfil was five minutes away.

“They’re five minutes away, Jack.” Mac asks with relief in his voice. “Five minutes. We’ve only got to hang on five minutes. We can do that.” He reached over and squeezed Jack’s shoulder.

“Damn straight. No one’s checking out here.” Jack replied with a shaky smile.

Mac closed his eyes. It would soon be over, he was almost looking forward to going to medical. He probably wouldn’t even complain as long as they kept him in the same room as Jack. Someone had to make sure he didn’t try and sweet talk his way out before he’d been given the all clear.

“Hey, keep talking to me Mac, I need to hear your voice.” Jack’s voice was sharp, dragging Mac away from sleep. Right. He couldn’t rest just yet, Jack still needed him.

“The first headphones were a single earpiece like our comms. Except it rested on your shoulder and weighed over ten pounds.”

Jack looked fondly at Mac.

“How do you remember all these facts, man?”

“Dunno, I just do.”

“So who made the first pair that looked like headphones?”

“Nathaniel Baldwin. In 1910. Sold them to the navy.”

“Smart guy.”

“Never patented them.”

“Not that smart then.”

Mac shrugged. He was so tired.

There was a noise by the door and a moment later a tac team followed by two medics came through. Suddenly, it was a blur of activity and Mac couldn’t keep up. He thought that should worry him but he was beyond his limits of endurance. He could hear Jack’s voice breaking through the commotion though.

“Stab wound to his left leg. No other injuries but he’s lost a lot of blood. We had to use a tourniquet, that’s been on for around ten minutes.”

There were hands now, on his leg and on his arm. A sharp pinch, a firm hold, pressure on his finger. Jostling and pain. But the pain he’d been trying to ignore was getting better, replaced by foggy numbness.

He was being lifted now. He peeled his eyes open and saw Jack, standing next to him.

“Make sure you get checked out too.” Mac reminded him.

“I’m fine.” Came the predicted reply.

“Is that the same kind of fine as me?” Mac asked and Jack didn’t answer. “You still need to get checked out, Jack.”

“As long as you keep telling me nerdy facts I’ll be behave myself for the medics.” He promised.

“Deal.”

Mac smiled.

They were alive, in safe hands and going home. Jack was asking for nerdy facts and Mac was enjoying the morphine. Maybe it wasn’t such a disastrous mission after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to play around with an ambiguous narrator. I hope it worked and wasn't too confusing, please let me know!


End file.
